Parasol
by Yukitarina
Summary: The parasol and the rainbow.


A/N: Hellooo … :''( I miss you all, how are you? I miss this fandom, I miss writing fics, I miss reading fics, I miss all the authors and reviewers :'( no matter what happens I can never forget this fandom ... Thank you for sinistvether who has given the review that reminds me how I love SS fandom … (hugs)

I have a lot of things to do, that's why I'm so rarely visiting FFnet, so sorry for the promises I haven't fulfilled and so sorry for you who have waited too long for Bonne Nuit … But I am working on it now, hopefully I can finish it two months later (I know, too long … :'(

This fic is for all of you, thank you very much :)

Disclaimer: I don't own SS chara

**Parasol**

**By Yukitarina**

They said the new restaurant in the midst of Athens were delightful, full of delicious and various menus, from roasted lambchop to chocolate frappe. A very good news for The Gold Saints who never had any choice but eating Aldebaran's cooks. No problem with the taste of his cuisine, but they had been too familiar with it that they started to get bored.

Twelve of them (minus Dohko and Shion; Rozan and Shunlei's cooks seemed to be paradise for them …) agreed to visit the restaurant today—in the last six months this was the first time they planned a gathering. But they had a little problem. Not because of Shaka's protest ("I do not want to waste my time visiting the restaurant—my daily menus are nothing but lettuce and mineral water and they are scattered everywhere"). Also not because of Aldebaran's face who has turned as red as Milo's nail for having a bankruptcy.

But because suddenly the rain fell heavily as they arrived at Aries temple, and none of the Gold Saints had any umbrella.

"What the hell is going on here?" Deathmask started. "The Gold Saints who own bloody rare things—scorpions, Twin Sala Tree, poisonous roses, jamirian clothes—DON'T have any umbrella?"

"That's the thing happens to the people who acquire seventh sense," Aiolia murmured. "They'll forget anything that goes with five senses."

"Dite, you have a parasol, don't you?" asked Milo immediately. "May us borrow it?"

"And let its pink-painted ornament and delicate papery material shattered by rain?" Aphrodite wrathfully snarled. "No way!"

"Just an idea," Milo replied in hurry. No use forcing Aphrodite lending his parasol; the deadly remarkable thing was bought in Japan and Dite used it as an accessories everytime he was asked to do Cosmosss Girl photo shooting.

Kanon then gave his opinion innocently. "How about Shura going to the supermarket in Athens-road to buy umbrellas and come back here to give them to us?"

"Why don't you do it yourself?" barked Shura.

"Well well, looks like we have to cancel our plan," said Saga as he sat on the stairs, looking at the rainfalls. Aldebaran's face brightened up once he heard Saga's words. "Right, why don't we eat the ginger cakes I'll make?"

"No, we must go there," Mu replied, in a tone signifying that if they didn't go to the restaurant bad lucks would fall upon them. Everybody immediately looked at him in astonishment; Mu usually wasn't really into cuisine.

"Well …," Mu's face reddened. "It's just, these days we rarely go outside together."

For a moment they only listened to the rhythm of falling rain, and Milo turned his head, looking at those who would only talk when they were asked to: Shaka, Camus, and Aiolos.

"Any idea?" asked Milo, particularly looked at his best friend.

"If I have to mention my opinion once again," said Shaka in elegance, "Everywhere I go I will only order the same thing. So cancelling the plan is no danger for me."

"Should we call a taxi?" asked Aiolos.

"_A_ taxi?" Aphrodite laughed. "_Four_ taxis. Aldebaran will spend one taxi only for himself; the rest will ride the others."

"Four taxis mean four hundred Euros," Kanon nodded and growled. "That is not a good idea." And it was true, regarding to the fact that the goddess only salaried them ten Euros per month.

"Why don't we work together to create an umbrella?" murmured Camus, with his eyes still locked on Hyoga's homework which he had to review.

Everybody looked at each other.

"Not a very practical idea," said Milo, his eyes shone. "But we can try!"

Clearly Deathmask wasn't really happy. "Excuse me? Creating umbrella? How? Buying wool threads and knit them until the next year?"

"What kind of umbrella is made of wool threads?" Aiolia hissed and Shura shrugged.

"We only have to prepare anti-water material," said Saga. "Remember the tent we used to camp in Jamir last month? It is kept here in Aries Temple, we can use it immediately."

Soon the enthusiastic ones rustled at Mu's temple and grabbed the tent. It was a fortune Mu wasn't objected his friends seized not only the tent, but also his lamp stick, the wires used to hang his curtains, scissors, plastics, saws (in case they do unimportant fight again and need to kill each other), and all the painting tools he had.

They started to work with Aphrodite as the leader.

"Camus, Mu, Saga, Aiolos, Aldebaran, and Shaka, you trim the tent in the shape of a parasol canopy. NO, Deathmask, this is a job that needs accuracy, precision, and patience—something a zombie cannot do. You'd better sand the stick with Milo and Kanon. Aiolia and the rest will attach the wires and the stick into the canopy."

"What will you do then?" almost half of the Goldies shouted at him.

"I will paint the canopy artistically so it will look gorgeous," replied Aphrodite sweetly.

The thought that Aphrodite would paint the parasol with pink and ocean blue coloured flowers was really hard to bear.

"I'LL paint the canopy!" Deathmask snarled.

"No, Deathmask, no ghoul-painting again!" replied Aiolia. "I'll paint the canopy!"

"Better I starved for the whole life than wear kitten-painting parasol!"

And here they went again …

"Give me the painting tools!"

"I won't give my privilege to anybody! I, the incarnation of the goddess of beauty must paint it to death!"

"And let the people think we are transgender? No way!"

"How about not painting it?"

"I don't like the yellow coloured-tent—yucky!"

"Don't shout at me!"

"Don't yell at me!"

Bla … bla … bla …

Saga and Aiolos would be the only ones who shook their heads and put their hands on their temples in frustration.

"This is what happens when twelve of them are reunited," murmured Saga.

"But don't you miss this moment?" Aiolos smiled. "Each of them is too busy these days—nobody had enough chance to see each other."

"I wonder if playing games and sleeping can be called as 'busy' …"

"It's not important," Aiolos looked at his juniors again, smiled warmly. "The most important is how to stay like this forever."

Saga glanced at him for a while before imitating his gesture, looking at his juniors. He couldn't help to smile as well.

"Okay, kids, I have a solution," he announced as he approached them. "We'll divide the canopy into twelve parts so all of you will get the privilege to paint it as you like."

Judging from the silence which followed, Saga thought they agreed with the idea. But he rolled his eyes when they started to protest, replying him noisily just like popcorn heated on a pan.

"What kind of umbrella having twelve illustrations?"

"If you don't want it that's fine," Saga snarled. "We'll go to the restaurant without any umbrella, or we cancel the plan and stay home till the rain stops falling."

They was about to protest again, but soon realizing they didn't know what to say. Growling, they did the task Aphrodite had ordered. The idea was to create a very big umbrella so it could cover twelve of them.

At first Shaka's group thought that trimming the tent wasn't really hard, but the fact was otherwise. Shura soon helped them and proved his class: he trimmed the material in only ten seconds.

"Cool," his friends were amazed.

"Accuracy, precision, and patience," Shura's pride was higher than a mountain.

The work was pretty exhausting, but they finally finished it in two hours. What annoyed them was only Aphrodite's stubbornness—he insisted decorating the canopy with multiple-colored threads and sewed them into the material, producing roses shapes.

"For heaven's sake, Aphrodite," snarled his friends. Deathmask didn't say anything, but occasionally glanced at the saws.

They inhaled a relief breath once everything was ready. Feeling content on their achievement, they started walking under the various-decorated parasol—Aldebaran held its stick.

Honestly all of them were like a walking gazebo.

Twelve men with various-colored hairs walked beneath an Athens-sized parasol, giggling and chuckling in the midst of the rain, sometimes singing _Raindrops Keeps Falling on My Head._

_Raindrops keeps falling on my head_

_But that doesn't seem my eyes will soon be turning red_

_Crying's not for me, cause I'll never stop the rain by complaining_

_Because I'm free, nothing's worrying me_

"A very good idea," Milo smiled widely to Camus. "Even Shaka is happy."

Camus glanced at Shaka and couldn't help to smile seeing him joking with Kanon.

"Seriously, what did we do these days?" asked Milo, the curiousity in his tone roused up. "Why was the frequency of the Goldies' gatherings decreased drastically?"

"I was busy becoming Poseidon's chauffeur," Kanon immediately encircled his hand around Milo's shoulders.

"And I was assisting my bro teaching archery," Aiolia imitated Kanon's gesture. "So what did you do, Scorpion?"

"Feeding his insects, of course," replied Kanon. "What else can he do?"

"Ha ha ha," Milo sarcastically replied, causing his two friends laughed in amusement.

"I took a rest," Milo finally answered.

"A rest?"

"A rest. Sleeping all the time. Playing games. Watching movies. Sometimes visiting Camus's temple to seize a cup of ice cream. That's all."

"Lazy," said Kanon and Aiolia altogether.

"Hey, what do you expect from an ex-saint who had destroyed an island, dead once, fought Hades, losing his best friends twice, et cetera et cetera? Too many exhausting things. Taking a rest for a while would be a very good idea."

Kanon and Aiolia clapped his shoulders encouragingly.

"And you, fridge?" Milo asked Camus. "What did you do in the past six months?"

"I don't know," he murmured. "Watching soap opera, I think."

Twelve of them stopped walking.

"_What?_"

Camus was about to laugh, but he soon closed his mouth and managed himself only to smile. "Kidding."

"Maybe in the past six months he was practicing some jokes," his friends whispered to each other.

"Seriously," Milo elbowed his best friend's arm after Kanon and Aiolia released him. "What did you do?"

"Nothing special, Milo…. Only reviewing Hyoga's homeworks, reading books, writing. All the things that bored you."

"But you missed us," Milo smiled. "You often visited the other's temples and pretended to borrow something. 'Mu, can you lend me your repairing tools?' 'Saga, may I borrow your book?' 'Aiolos, do you have some Greece-French dictionary?'"

"It was nothing personal," replied Camus in denial. "I really needed those things."

"Aaah … but the fact that you gave us the idea to create this parasol and work together proved the otherwise. You miss all the togetherness, gathering, the mental yet witty things from your friends."

"Whatever."

Camus looked away. But then he laughed a bit, and Milo laughed even more.

They finally arrived at the restaurant an hour later, only to find that it was full-booked and almost no spaces for anyone.

Only one word came from their mouths.

"Damn."

-00—

"We can't let this happen," Mu declared. "We must enter the restaurant!"

Suddenly the Goldies had a vision of Mu standing on the stage as a politician campaigning his party.

A quick solution was made. The parasol would be attached on the ground at the restaurant's yard and they would eat underneath it. The damp earth made them thinking to buy floor mats at the supermarket close by. Once again they waked together beneath the giant parasol—the people surrounded wondered if they would perform circus attraction.

"I'm sorry, Miss, but you are not allowed to eat here," a waiter approached Aphrodite once the parasol and the mats were ready.

"Tell me," Aphrodite glared at him. "Is there any reclame which says 'don't eat here'?"

"No, but—"

"Did your chairman asked you to be rude to your customer?"

"No, Miss, but—"

"Do I look like a girl?"

"Well—yes—"

"Forget it! Will ten hundred cars park here so it'll make us unable to eat here?"

"No, Miss, we're just—"

"I see there is no reason for you to tell us what we shouldn't do," Aphrodite brushed his ocean-blue hair elegantly, the way shampoo-commercial model would do. "We'll sit here no matter what. Give us your menu."

"Wait—wait a second, Miss—"

"Nevermind—we'll order all menus you have."

The other looked at him as if he was crazy.

"Are you nuts, Dite?" Deathmask snarled. "Who will pay the bill?"

"Don't worry, I've just got a honorarium from the fashion magz I work in—it'll be enough to cover the bill."

"Gosh!" said Kanon in amazement. "Why you suddenly become this generous?"

"All of you have treated me before. It's my time," said Aphrodite, looking at his polished nails. "I hate owing somebody."

Everybody smiled.

The waiter was splitted between letting them sitting in the yard or fulfilling their orders, but he realized their orders would increase today's input ten times. He sighed and decided to let them doing what they wanted.

As they waited for the food they never stopped joking, recalling the stupid old days. When the meals were delivered they started to eat, but still quoting various things, particularly when looking at Shaka, in which his lettuce made them felt a certain misery that they couldn't help to comment.

"Here, Shaka, please try this pie," Kanon passed a plate of strawberry pie to the Virgo. "I beg you."

"Kanon—"

"This is made of strawberry, _fruit_, just the same as peach, in case you haven't known. Try a bite."

"Alright," Shaka glared and took a little slice of pie, then ate it. "_Happy_?" But his brilliant blue eyes widened as he tasted the pie, and decided that it was the most delicious meal he'd ever eaten, and putting his elegance aside, he took one more bite, causing his friends laughed cheerfully.

The rainbow glowed at the East when the shower ended. Camus gazed at it. When did the last time he saw rainbow?

Somebody clapped his shoulder and he turned his head.

"Remember when you were a child?" smiled Aiolos. "When I picked you up and brought you to Sanctuary."

Camus smiled slightly and nodded.

At that moment the rain fell lightly and they sheltered underneath the elm trees, waiting it to stop. When it did, and the rainbow showed off, Camus asked Aiolos where it came from.

"Ah …," said Aiolos, smiling and looking at the sky. "After raining, each child in the world will mention his or her hopes, and the hopes will gather in the shapes of colours. Red for the hope of love … orange for happiness, yellow for bright future, green for success, blue for prosperity, indigo for health, and violet for beauty."

"Can't we hope for friends?"

Aiolos laughed and encircled his hand around his shoulders. "Of course you can. Friends are one of the rare things that are included in the hopes you mention. When you hope for love you'll automatically hope for friends. When you hope for success you also do the same."

The little child gave a slight smile, something he rarely did.

"Then I will hope for happiness."

"You do the right thing. When there are friends, there is also happiness."

Camus remembered the yellow part of the rainbow shone brighter after he mentioned his hope. In the past … also in the present, when he looked at it underneath the giant parasol.

And speaking of parasol …

Suddenly came a very strong wind that blew the parasol vigorously—the canopy covered all of them and they started yelling as playgroup children.

"Aaargh!"

"Where did the wind come from?"

"Aaaargh the tart is ruined!"

"My hair! My hair!"

Once it was removed and they could breath normally again, they did nothing but laughed out loud.

The most important is how to stay like this forever. Even though it means they have to build a parasol everyday, or ordering all meals from a new restaurant, or yelling on some fool things … it is how to be alongside those they care about. And happiness will come after raining, just like the rainbow in the sky.

**-End-**


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